ABOUT :Decay: Precautionary Measures

My recent work is driven by an interest in notions of the ephemeral and in an investigation into man’s influence in the world versus the resilience of nature. Nature tends to take back what was always hers.

Right now, we exist in a place between analog and digital technology- we are at a place of overlap,confusion and conflict. There is much debate amongst photographic and artistic circles as to the value, weight, meaning and permanence of one medium over the other.

If I, as a photographer, were to die tomorrow and leave behind me prints made in a darkroom from film- or an archive of digital images saved on a computer or uploaded to a website-which one is worth more than the other? In a room where prints, projected imagery and images on a laptop are presented together: which has more value?This was the question I asked myself as I presented this work in exactly those three formats within a space.

I believe we, as human beings, have an innate need and want to leave behind a legacy, to preserve time and to preserve our experiences.This can manifest itself in the form of children- or grand buildings and monuments, art, writing or a political career.We seem to hope that after we die there will be some tangible sign left behind us of our existence in this world. How do we preserve temporality when our mere existence as human beings on this planet is temporary?

To move forward artistically do we not need to project ourselves forward into an embrace of new technologies? Projection is " ... the action of throwing, ejecting, propelling away from oneself. To project is literally to throw forward…” (Doane, Mary Ann.) Is there also value in looking backwards and preserving traditions and history for future generations? What does the trajectory of transition look like from one medium to another- from one generation to another?

My research has focused around notions of decay, temporality, permanence, light, shadows and the effects of time on people, places and things. My work attempts to examine the dichotomies of man versus nature: old versus new, analog versus digital and projection versus print, with the computer being the epicentre of it all.

My goal is to point to issues of value and permanence fostered through an examination of perspective, history and the fabricated entity of preciousness.

By focusing on abstracted, magnified details of disintegration and decay, I was able to open my eyes to the real and vivid beauty around me – even in the midst of ruin and decay.